Students encounter information about climate change daily through news, social media, and conversations. Educators can help them evaluate what they read and write by encouraging them to develop informed perspectives. At one school, an eighth-grade science teacher teams with an English Language Arts instructor to offer an interdisciplinary unit. This project helps students make sense of extreme weather and climate change while building essential literacy and research skills.
Connecting Science and Literacy Standards
Middle school provides a natural opportunity to incorporate interdisciplinary lessons across content areas. Reading and writing are essential to the revised Next Generation Science Standards. English Language Arts and Science share a focus on research and investigation. Two guiding questions lead the unit: what climate-related challenges in the community would the students like to solve, and how can they use their knowledge of climate and weather to develop solutions? These prompts push students to think critically about the impact of climate on daily life.
During their science lessons, learners examine weather and climate topics such as air masses, fronts, high and low pressure systems, ocean currents, wind patterns, and the ways humans affect the atmosphere. In their English language arts period, they explore books—both fictional and factual—that focus on extreme weather. They observe how authors blend scientific data with narrative techniques to enhance climate awareness. Works of narrative nonfiction like Nicholas Day’s A World Without Summer and Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm depict the fallout from a severe weather disaster on people and the environment. These readings make scientific ideas clearer and give students a way to internalize the concepts.
After completing the ELA readings, each student selects a weather-related or climate-related question to investigate. They first decide, over two class periods, what specific aspect they will study, narrowing their focus and committing to a topic. Allowing learners to write about subjects they personally choose tends to increase their motivation for writing. Next, they dive deeper, gathering data to answer their initial queries while also formulating additional questions. Throughout a week of class time, they use the school’s library databases to locate information. Working independently, they collect evidence such as statistics, factual statements, expert testimony, and illustrative examples from trustworthy sources.
Scattered amid that week are mini-lessons on how to locate dependable and precise sources, consider a range of viewpoints, and recognize bias. Students maintain an evidence file that consolidates all gathered materials and records the origin and type of each piece of evidence. A sample screenshot of a digital evidence file demonstrates how pupils can organize their research trail in one place.
Creating Visual Presentations with Digital Tools
Students use software to create their final projects. Tools like Canva and Google Drawings allow them to design infographics. In Google Drawings, the page starts blank. In Canva, students can start with a blank canvas or choose a template. They add data and graphics based on their research. Creating these visual texts helps students build their communication skills. This project also offers a path to expanded formats. Students can turn their data into a written piece or a podcast.
When students podcast, they do not simply read their writing aloud. They add sound effects and interviews. They include sound bites from experts. These features draw the listener’s attention. Building strong verbal and written communication skills requires students to revise their work. They adjust the style to fit the intended audience.
Synthesizing Research with Infographics
Compiling evidence showcases what students have learned, and an infographic allows them to visualize that understanding while forming a central claim. An infographic is a graphic that merges text, pictures, charts, and diagrams to convey information. Depending on its purpose, the layout may follow patterns such as cause-and-effect, problem-and-solution, informational, or chronological. Well-designed infographics are easy to scan and can turn complex data into digestible content.
After collecting information about their topic, students decide on specific claims. They determine what evidence is most vital to support these claims. They also decide how to visually convey their reasoning. Students look at models of infographics before creating their own. They examine the ways the information is presented. They look at the use of color and the balance between image and text. Having students visually represent their data requires them to choose words and images purposefully. They must communicate an idea and prove their thinking.
Writing & Podcasting
To take this project another step forward, students can expand their claims. They can expand into a written piece or a podcast. They adjust it according to the intended audience. The format and style dictate the revisions needed. When podcasting, students do not just read aloud their writing. They carefully choose sound effects and record interviews. They include sound bites from experts to draw the listener’s attention.
